I am a newbie to tropical fish hobby.So I decided on the fishless cycle route.I am impressed with progress to date.I am cycling 15g tank & for last 4 days of a 27day cycle ,my nitrites are 0.my nitrates are 10 - 20,BUT I am a little confused because my amm reads 0 - 0.5 & not 0 as is recommended. I am using AP test kits.Also showing 1st signs of brown algae dusting.I intend to do water cahnges in next couple of days & introduce 4 plaTIES & 3 cory's (this will be my max load). AM I NOW FULLY CYCLED?[/b]

Thank you for your quick reply.I am using clear liquid ammonia from local hardware store.(no additives)I have to confess that initially I must have overloaded the ammonia as my readings were above 5ppm for 3 weeks or so without any action.After some research,I went through a 75 per cent water change,bringing my readings to 4-5.this is when I started counting my 27 days as quoted.I maintained 4-5 amm,then when nitrites appeared,I halved my amm from 10 to 5 drops per day.Everything seemed to kick in nicely,with my nitrites peaking at 5ppm then dropping to 2 ppm then eventually dropping to 0.My pH from tap water (overnight)is 7.0,tank pH after 27 days unchanged is 6.4.I suppose I will have to just have to stay patient.

Mick, the Site Issues forum is open for guests to post so that people having difficulty to register or login may post here and get assistance with that.

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